Bovada In, Bodog Out for US Players

According to Bodog founder Calvin Ayre, Bodog is not an online poker room or an online casino - instead, Bodog is a brand.

Earlier today, the Bodog brand pulled out of the US market (this move had been announced months ago). In its place? Bovada.

If you are a US player, you won't notice much of a difference. The site (Bovada.lv) looks the same as Bodog. The software is apparently the same, and the owner (Morris Mohawk Gaming Group) is also the same. The only real difference is the name of the site.

The name, Bovada, is presumably a combination of "Bodog" and "Nevada". When people see the domain name (Bovada.lv), they will likely think of Las Vegas, but the domain extension is actually the country code for Latvia.

Here is the full press release:

"LONDON, December 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Following the Bodog Brand's decision to withdraw the brand from the US market as announced earlier this year, as of today (December 14th, 2011) the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group (MMGG) will no longer operate under the Bodog name.

Whilst MMGG's brand licensing agreement does not formally expire until 31 December, as from today, US residents will no longer be able to access bodog.eu or any other Bodog branded website.

We understand MMGG will now operate under its new brand, Bovada, at the following website: http://www.bovada.lv, such domain being given to MMGG pursuant to its rights on expiry of the licensing agreement.

The Bodog brand is confident MMGG's customer account information and funds will continue to remain safe and secure, as it has done since MMGG entered its original agreement with the Bodog Brand in 2006 and we would like to wish MMGG the greatest success in its new venture.